People

We've all heard of artists suffering for their art but growing a new ear on your forearm takes it to another level. But why? Stelios Arcadiou, aka Stelarc, explains:

"The idea was to construct a soft prosthesis on my body.

"I'd previously constructed a third hand, extended arm [and a] six legged walking machine. These were extensions to the body that used hard technologies.

"The idea of constructing a soft prosthesis, using your own skin, own body, came about and it's taken nine years to get to this point."

However, the artist believes his work could help in altering the human body.

"It's an exploration of what I'd call an alternate atomical architecture.

"We've evolved with a certain biological apparatus with certain organs, certain structures over our body with certain sensors, but now we can consider redesigning the human body."

Stelarc hopes to insert a microphone into his third ear, connecting it to the Internet and letting people across the world listen to what he can hear.

Despite the controversy, Stelarc says people like what he's doing.

"Generally people are fascinated rather than repulsed... They like a guy with a few extras."